CSU's Colton Iverson, shown in this March 23 against Louisville in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, is expected to be taken in the second round of Thursday's NBA Draft. / Mark Zerof/USA Today

NBA DRAFT

Colton Iverson file

• Position: Center • Size: 7-foot, 255 pounds • Notable: Name first-team all-Mountain West as a senior at CSU…Led the Rams in points (14.2), rebounds (9.8), field goal percentage (.596) and blocks (25) in 2012-13…Played his first three seasons at the University of Minnesota...Father Chuck played in the NBA with the Seattle Supersonics.

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A stunning rise in his only season at CSU is likely to lead to a dream come true for Colton Iverson on Thursday night at the NBA Draft.

Iverson was a force for Colorado State University last season as a senior after playing his first three years at Minnesota.

He averaged nearly a double-double at 14.2 points per game and 9.8 rebounds per game, helping lead the Rams to an NCAA Tournament win over Missouri.

Now with the NBA Draft fast approaching, it is likely Iverson will hear his name called sometime in the second round. If so, he will become the first CSU player to be drafted since Jason Smith in 2007.

The 7-footer is projected to go 43rd overall to the Milwaukee Bucks by Draft Express. CBS Sports has two different two-round mock drafts. One has Iverson going 54th to Washington while the other has him going 57th to the Phoenix Suns. NBADraft.net also has him going to the Wizards at 54.

“The odds are heavily in favor of Colton getting drafted,” said Adam Pensack, one of his agents. “I would be really surprised at this point if he didn’t. Colton has done a phenomenal job throughout this process to climb the ladder.”

Andy Glockner from Sports Illustrated lists Iverson as a second-round sleeper, saying that as “a legitimate 7-footer with a strong body, Iverson should be able to rebound and defend at the NBA level.”

Iverson’s first big step after the season ended was being invited to the NBA combine in May in Chicago. Pensack said Iverson’s done even more for himself since then in individual workouts.

He worked out for 17 teams leading up to the draft and Pensack squared him up in workouts against top big men in the draft like Kelly Olynyk (Gonzaga), Mason Plumlee (Duke), Gorgui Dieng (Louisville) and Jeff Withey (Kansas).

“Nothing is 100 percent that it’s going to happen, but the odds are overwhelmingly in favor of Colton getting drafted,” Pensack said. “The feedback pretty much across the board has been really positive. I really think draft night is going to be good for him.”

In his first three years at Minnesota he was a serviceable player, but far from a force. In his junior season he had then-career highs with 5.4 points and five rebounds per game.

“I think the people in Minnesota, if they had seen him play, they wouldn't think it was the same guy. It was a transformation,” Flip Saunders, president of basketball operations for the Minnesota Timberwolves, told the team’s website after Iverson worked out for the Timberwolves.

“He was very mechanical when he was in Minnesota. He got the predetermined shots that he wanted to take. Out here he showed just more of an ability to play with the flow, did not look stiff at all. I didn't feel like it was the same player.”

Pensack said Iverson, who will turn 24 on Saturday, will watch the draft with family and friends in his hometown Yankton, S.D. Iverson has not returned messages left the last week.